Try-ranosaurus Rex
Darby Loudon (17)
I think the requirement behind Dennis is to be able to play 6 and 4. I highly doubt he would have been in the initial squad if MMM had been fit. In the squad chosen, I think Dennis is the third choice 6 and fourth choice 8. He's the only potential 4/6 though. If Deans wants to play two 7s in his matchday 23 and still have 3 back reserves he has to compromise his bench by having a player who covers both lock and the backrow.
I agree on the rationale.
But practicaly, if Timani or Horwill go down with injury in the first 60 minutes of a test and Dennis came on to replace them, you can kiss any chance of winning good bye. The Northerns would jump on this like a fat kid on a cup cake and our scrums would be decimated.
I have a feeling we're going to see a 6:2 bench split in order to get game time for two flyers on the scrum. Much like we did on the EOYT last year (starting Hooper and finishing with Hooper and Gill).